Did you know there’s an Animal Protection Party of Canada?

Three B.C. candidates have tossed their hats into the running in the upcoming federal election – and all of them are vegans and animal lovers, through and through.

That’s no surprise, though, as they’ll be representing the Animal Protection Party of Canada.

The federal government announced Tuesday that the writ will drop on Wednesday, with the official election day to be Oct. 21.

“We are North America’s first federal political party dedicated solely to the protection of all animals and the environment,” Animal Protection Party leader Liz White says on the party’s website.

The party’s platform includes a section dedicated to veganism, the Canada-European trade agreement and farm animal protection. It was first founded in 2005 as the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada.

The three candidates running include Kira Cheeseborough for the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, Trev Miller in the Kootenay-Columbia riding and Jordan Reichert in Victoria.

Cheeseborough, 25, told Kamloops This Week that she is running because she feels the voices of those impacted by government policies are often missed.

Although she admitted it’s a fringe party, Cheeseborough said the APP is “bringing compassion into politics.”

Reichert is an employee of the Animal Alliance of Canada and works for Island Health as a mental health and addictions worker. Meanwhile, Miller is the founder of the Cranbrook Friends of Animals Society.

“As a vegan and animal activist, I became involved with the Animal Protection Party of Canada because I saw just how poorly animals were represented in politics across Canada,” Reichert, who is also deputy leader, wrote in a blog post Monday.

“For me, on principle, running for a political party that is not willing to address animal agriculture or the plight of animals, or did not even have the word ‘animal’ anywhere in their policy was not where I thought I would be able to best do my job of trying to representing the interests of animals politically,” Reichert continues.

The B.C. candidates make up three of the 12 Animal Protection Party members running across Canada.